noun:

• decorating the alcove of a tea room with a hanging scroll and flowers (in more formal tea ceremonies, during only the first and second half respectively)
• style of decorating a traditional Japanese room (esp. a study) in which incense, a pair of vases and a pair of candlesticks are placed on a table in front of a trio of hanging scrolls - orig. meaning

noun:

• young underground market (the underground economy in goods and services, involving lots of barter and buying and selling of secondhand goods)

noun:

• representative director; managing director; president; someone chosen by the board of directors from among the directors to actually represent the company in its dealings with the outside world

noun:

• Galapagos phenomenon; Galapagos syndrome; tendency of Japanese products (e.g. cell phones) to be designed specifically for the domestic market, which are therefore unsuccessful overseas and also vulnerable to competition from imports - because the Galapagos contains many endemic species ➜ ガラパゴス化

noun:

• Budget Committee (of the Upper and Lower Houses of the Diet)
• budget committee

expression:

• not distinguishing between what's good and bad; not knowing chalk from cheese; mixing good and bad together; shit and miso are the same [literal] - idiom

noun:

• the Big Dipper (asterism); the Plough; the Plow - Astronomy term ➜ 北斗七星
• Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter & Saturn - Astronomy term ➜ 七曜【しちよう】

noun:

• falling (down); tumbling (down); falling to the ground
• failure; failing
• renouncing Christianity and converting to Buddhism (during the Edo period); apostasy
• batter (construction technique)

noun:

• Asia-Pacific War (starting with the Manchurian Incident in 1931 and ending with the Japanese surrender in 1945) ➜ 十五年戦争・太平洋戦争

noun:

• Protector General; Tang-period Chinese official in charge of the local Protectorate General ➜ 都護府
• travelling inspector of the provincial governments (Nara- and Heian-period position) ➜ 按察使

expression / godan ~う verb:

• to take a risk for someone; to endanger oneself for someone; to gather chestnuts from the fire [literal] - orig. from the fable The Monkey and the Cat by Jean de La Fontaine - idiom

expression / godan ~す verb:

• to turn inside out; to turn the other way; to turn (something) over ➜ 裏返す
• to look at it from another perspective - usu. as 裏を返せば
• to visit the same prostitute or geisha for a second time

expression / adverb:

• at every opportunity; for each and every thing that crops up; with every little thing; whenever possible; whenever the chance arises; at every turn

noun / ~の noun:

• Cambrian system (i.e. rock layer deposited during the Cambrian period)

noun:

• agreement between film distributors and cinemas that the latter may freely pick and show films - From English "free booking" ➜ ブロックブッキング

noun:

• one-sided wait for the end tile of a three-in-a-row which will finish one's hand (i.e. for a 3 while holding 1-2, or for a 7 while holding 8-9) - Mahjong term

noun:

• one-sided wait for the end tile of a three-in-a-row which will finish one's hand (i.e. for a 3 while holding 1-2, or for a 7 while holding 8-9) - Mahjong term - From Chinese ➜ 辺張待ち【ペンチャンまち】

noun:

• the poor; the needy; the destitute

noun / ~の noun:

• the extraordinary; the unusual; the unexpected

noun:

• nationality clause; legislated ban on foreigners taking up public posts

noun:

• race to be the pitcher with the most wins in the season - Baseball term - From English "hurler derby"

noun:

• the 72 'climates' of the year based on the 24 solar seasons further divided into three ➜ 節気・候【こう】

expression:

• the sand on the beach may disappear, but the makings of thieves never shall (Ishikawa Goemon)

noun:

• language used by the harlots of the Yoshiwara red light district during the Edo period ➜ ありんすことば

noun:

• sweeping the soot from one's house (to welcome the kami of the New Year) ➜ 神【かみ】・すす払い